JEDDAH, 1 April 2007 — After falling 7.84 percent last week, the Saudi stock market continued to plunge yesterday. The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) fell another 223.63 points or 2.83 percent to 7,666.11 yesterday.
Out of 86 stocks traded, the only gainers yesterday were Samba Financial group, up 4.73 percent to SR155, the National Company for Glass Industries, rose 4.22 percent to SR43.25 and Saudi Hotels & Resort Areas, edged higher by 3.07 percent to SR42.
All the indexes were in negative territory. The Agriculture and Services indexes dropped by over 6 percent yesterday. The cement index fell 5.43 percent.
In the banking sector, the worst hit was Banque Saudi Fransi as its shares declined 9 percent to SR70.75. Bank Albilad shares also dipped 6.54 percent to SR35.75.
In the industrial and services sectors, shares of major companies dropped sharply.
Saudi Electricity Co. (SEC) shares edged lower by 3.92 percent to SR12.25.
In the telecom sector, shares of Saudi Telecom Co. (STC) and Etihad Etisalat fell 3.05 percent and 8.84 percent, respectively.